I recently heard
an interview with Jackie Hooper, author of The Things You Would Have Said. She also manages a blog (http://wouldhavesaid.com/) where people post
letters they never wrote: “Whether the person has passed away,
contact was lost, or the strength needed at the time was lacking, this is a
chance to say what you have always wanted them to know.” The letters are
sometimes sad, sometimes humorous, but always poignant.
Of
course I can’t help but hear through my “gifted self-advocacy ears” and as I
listened to the interview my mind drifted back to my own school days, my classmates,
my classes, my teachers. What
could I have said or done that would have made school better for me?
The
first thing that came to mind . . .
Dear
Mrs. Bryce. About that round-robin
reading of Romeo and Juliet we’re doing in English class . . . I love the play,
but the slow, slow pace is driving me crazy. Could I do an independent project instead?
And
then I thought . . .
Dear
Mr. White. I really don’t get
this sine/cosine/tangent stuff but I’m afraid to ask for help. I don’t want you
or the other kids to think I’m as dumb as I feel right now.
Of course finding an appropriate academic
challenge isn’t a new concern. We
all probably struggled with it at one time or another and so did our parents
and their parents. But in an
age of budget cuts, staff reductions, and gifted program elimination we MUST
empower our students with the skills to advocate for themselves.
So
now it’s your turn. What do you wish you’d said to an educator? Revealing our own academic frustrations
may give our students ideas on how to improve their own lives.
Post your own “note to my teacher” in the
comments below or on my WATG president's blog here.
Trust me. Getting it off your
chest feels pretty good!
“There is a goldmine of hidden creativity in each one of these
children, which can blossom into spiritual, emotional, creative and
scientific growth. We need to build bridges between the inner world of the individual and the outer world of
society, so that knowledge, thoughts and emotions can flow freely
between them. To contribute to the accomplishment of this great goal
continues to drive my life passionately.”
